Disaster experiences and terrorism news exposure: effects on perceptions of police and trust in local government in the United States

ABSTRACT

Given inconsistency across studies, it remains unclear how direct and vicarious experience with disaster shape views of police and views of local government. This study investigated the views of those with direct disaster experiences as well as exposure to terrorism news. Data were collected with a nationwide, online survey of 520 U.S. adults administered in 2017. Results indicated that having a direct experience with disaster was unrelated to views of police or local government. Those with more frequent terrorism news exposure through print news had lower opinions of police; those with more frequent exposure through national television news had more positive views. More frequent exposure to terrorism news in print and through friends or family was both associated with more trust in local government. Arrest history was a strong and consistent predictor of trust in local government, but not of views of the police.

KEYWORDS:

• Trust
• police perceptions
• media
• disaster
• local government
• vicarious experience

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by Penn State Altoona under a 2017 Research Development Grant.

Notes on contributors

Cameron Banjak-Corle

Cameron Banjak-Corle is an undergraduate student of Criminal Justice at Penn State Altoona.

Lacey N. Wallace

Lacey N. Wallace, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at Penn State Altoona. She earned her doctorate at Penn State University while working on a project that investigated how substance use and delinquency patterns varied based on an adolescent’s social position among peers. Specializing in quantitative methods, families and juvenile delinquency, her current research involves 1) the influence of siblings and peers on delinquency and substance use through social networks; 2) weapon carrying, gun ownership and gun acquisition behavior; and 3) the effects of intervention and policy on these processes. Her most recent projects include studies of concealed carry, stigma associated with gun ownership, and childhood experiences with firearms.